A Winning Strategy

As the minutes tick closer to midnight on Nov. 6, the margin between Democratic first-time candidate Abigail Spanberger and incumbent Republican 7th District Congressman Dave Brat teeters less than a percentage point apart. Inside the Westin Richmond Hotel ballroom, excitement is palpable.

“I've never seen so much hugging in a campaign in my life,” Patricia Heidelmark, a 63-year-old field volunteer for Spanberger, shouts to make herself heard over the noise. A Type 1 diabetic and “New Yorker at heart,” Heidelmark says she became invested in Spanberger’s campaign before the June primaries, in part because of her concerns about pre-existing conditions and access to affordable health care.

“[Spanberger] listened to people,” Heidelmark says. “We kept great data — the No. 1 issue was health care, so she rode that; she knew she had to make that difference.”

But before the potlucks that supporters shared in the months leading up to Election Day, before the volunteer shifts, bumper stickers and small children begging to say hi to “Abby,” Spanberger had to decide if she was “in it to win it.” She sought perspective from a broad spectrum of people: political players on both sides of the aisle, family, friends, even college roommates.

“[That helped] me sort of think through what it is I could bring to Congress and what it is I could bring to the campaign trail,” Spanberger recalls during a phone interview while attending an orientation on Capitol Hill, “so that was really the first step, kind of a fact-finding mission.”

Next there were meet-and-greets, nearly 150 events in 10 counties, by the campaign’s tally.

Photo courtesy Abigail Spanberger

“For me, it was important that anyone who was going to give any amount of time, or energy, or money or enthusiasm to our race, that they really felt like their perspective matters, because, in fact, their perspective did matter,” Spanberger says.

From the start, the Henrico County resident and former CIA operative recognized that mounting a successful bid would require mobilizing Central Virginia voters. If the precincts in Chesterfield County were any indication, her efforts proved successful. On Election Day, lines of voters at some polling places looped through churches and gymnasiums from open to close, and an emergency court order kept the polls open until 9 p.m. at two Chesterfield precincts.

While Brat didn’t concede the election until the next morning, Spanberger was sure enough of the results to declare victory just after 11 p.m. According to the Virginia Department of Elections, she defeated the Randolph-Macon College economics professor and former congressional Freedom Caucus member by 6,784 votes, or 1.94 percentage points.

At Spanberger’s watch party, Heidelmark flashes a wide grin when I ask what she thinks motivated the turnout. “It was the enthusiasm,” she says, and when I glance up, her eyes are shining as she leans in to whisper-shout: “I really think we’re taking this one home tonight.”

What’s the best decision you made?

“I think a winning campaign … has to start with just recognizing the best thing to do is to get out in the community and listen to people and talk to people and ask about what's on their minds.”